The two of them got into the car and sped to the largest department store in the city. One by one, they bought the items that were listed on the paper. Chrome also bought items that Altyria liked and had the store assistants deliver all the items to the apartment. They also spent two hours browsing through the food and drink section of the department store.
After purchasing everything, Altyria noticed some fluctuations in the air. As a Lylin that excelled in spiritual power, she was sensitive to any power in the air. She glanced at Chrome, who was looking through a furniture catalog and appeared to not have noticed it. She felt the fluctuations again poked Chrome with her tail.
“What’s wrong?” Chrome faced towards her.
[There are some fluctuations in the air. It may be a spirit.]
“Can you sense where it is?” Chrome did not doubt her and put down the catalog.
[It should be on the floor above us, the 4th floor.]
Chrome held Altyria in his arms and went up the escalator. As soon as he arrived to the 4th floor, Altyria pointed to the right. Chrome followed her directions and finally arrived near the electronics area.
[It should be in this area...] Altyria said while glancing around.
"Let's take a look then. A spirit would usually attack if we're close enough. However, since this one is in a department store where thousands of people walk around and had not attacked anyone, it might not be a harmful spirit." Chrome murmured softly as he strolled into the electronics area.
As they walked around, Altyria felt fluctuations once in a while. Sometimes they were close, sometimes they were farther away. Chrome was also able to sense these fluctuations ever since he stepped into this area.
Sensing that the spirit might be close by, Altyria said, [Should I set up a spiritual array in this area? Right now, there aren't any people in this electronics section, so I will be able to block off people from entering.]
Chrome thought it was a good idea and nodded.
Altyria channeled her spiritual power and stealthily set an array that trapped the spirit in this small area. It also soundproofed the area inside the spiritual array, so people would not hear or see anything that they should not see.
As soon as the spiritual array was set, the spirit suddenly shot up into the air while blasting electricity in its surroundings. Sensing that the culprit was nearby, the spirit let out a wary roar.
Altyria jumped to the ground and slowly walked towards the spirit.
The spirit was an electric type of spirit in the shape of a bird. It flew around trying to escape, but it couldn’t. It had noticed Altyria and Chrome earlier when it revealed itself, and they gave off a sense of suppression, causing it to panic.
“This electric type of spirit does not seem to hold any hostile feelings. We can just seal it at this place.”
[How about making it become the guardian of this place? It requires using a seal, so it should count for the task.] Altyria felt bad to seal it when it had done nothing wrong.
Chrome paused, then nodded and took a step back.
[Hi, little spirit. I know it is unfair for us to seal you when you have done nothing wrong, so we will make you the guardian of this place.] Altyria spoke to the bird spirit that had landed a distance away from the two.
Chrome indifferently said to it, "Judging by how you have not harmed any human passing by this area, you don't have to be eternally sealed away. As a guardian, all you have to do is protect this area and the humans from harm."
The electric bird spirit hesitated before flapping its wings to fly and land closer to Altyria.
"Krrrr." The spirit willingly accepted as this was also in line with what it had been doing since it lived here.
Seeing that the spirit had agreed, Altyria drew some runes in the air using her spiritual power.
The spirit knew that it was not harmful, so it did not try to reject that power. When it first heard Altyria saying that she would seal it here to make it a guardian of this place, the spirit was happy.
The moment it opened its eyes, this electronics section of the department store was what it saw. It treated this place as its home and lightly zapped anyone who caused trouble in this area. It also zapped thieves that tried to steal the electronics.
Altyria’s intentions of making it the guardian of this place was exactly what the spirit had been doing since it had been born. Its life would not have many changes. In fact, the only difference would be that the spirit’s control over its power would increase and it would have a safe place to rest.
It was a win-win situation for the spirit and Altyria. The spirit got to keep doing what it loved to do, and Altyria did not have to feel bad about sealing it. Chrome, on the other hand, was indifferent towards it. He could care less whether the spirit was sealed or exterminated as long as the task was completed.
As the spell was being cast, the area surrounding the spirit lit up. Little sparks of light flew around the spirit and the lights slowly turned into a golden statue. This golden statue was where the spirit would rest when it did not need to do its job as the guardian of this area. The statue was the spirit’s new ‘house’, so to speak. Although it could also guard other areas on this floor, the spirit had no interest in doing so. It only had the affinity with electricity.
After everything was done, Altyria felt somewhat tired. Chrome picked up Altyria, his eyes full of distress. If he knew that she would be tired like this, he would have just destroyed the spirit. He stared coldly at the golden statue. The spirit resting inside the statue trembled in fear.
Altyria yawned. [Let’s go back home.]
When Chrome heard the word 'home', his heart was filled with warmth, and he stopped staring at the statue and caressed Altyria’s fur. He gazed at her with gentle eyes as she fell asleep in his arms.
Chrome’s frozen heart had already started melting the moment he saw Altyria for the first time. He knew that she had not fully accepted him yet. However, this time, she said ‘home’, which indicated that she is slowly integrating herself into his life. At this thought, his heart felt truly warm.
“En, let’s go back home. To our home.”
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